After the camel ride Amelia made the camel-man and his sidekick a masala chai back at the car. They were very impressed! The camels and handlers set off on a four hour walk back their homes, while we visited the Sam dunes where we got away from the touts and guides, let down the tyre pressures and had a drive around in the sand.
On the way to Jodhpur we spent the night at a very pleasant spot in the dunes, courtesy of a waypoint from previous overlanders 'nessies adventures'.
A small ragged goatherd spotted us and turned up later, so we offered him a cold drink and mimed/chatted with him for a while. As dusk fell, a black goat kid could just be seen wandering in the dunes bleating folornly, looking decidedly lost. Incredibly Amelia was able to communicate with the animal by bleating, and actually guided it to the car where she had some water waiting. It was kind of like Harry Potter communicating with snakes, except with goats. The poor thing must have been quite unnerved when it discovered that Amelia wasn't the floppy-eared, pointy-horned compatriot it was expecting as it hid under the table for the rest of the evening. I was left scratching my chin and wondering about the Krause/Gore family heritage . . .
The next day Amelia's friend was gone and we got back on the road to Jodhpur. Here there is an impressive fort and many indigo coloured houses after which it is famously named the 'Blue City'. More importantly it was where riding jodhpurs were invented.
We camped in the carpark of a beautiful Ratan Villas' heritage hotel thanks to the very agreeable family owners.
Mehrangarh fort is the best we have seen yet, with lots of art and weapons on display and many of the palace rooms still beautifuly preserved.
The fact foreigners have to pay literally ten times the entry fee of Indians to get in is now wearing a little thin.
Eventually we managed to find a working internet connection, submitted our Iranian Visa applications, and had a few expensive beers and a meal at a rooftop restaurant.
Next stop on the way to Jaipur is Pushkar, a sacred lake busy with Indian tourists and pilgrims worshipping Brahma, holy bearded Sadhus, holy elephants in the street and holy cows bearing a disturbing extra hoof protruding from their neck Chernobyl style. We visited the temple, made offerings of flowers to the Gods and were 'blessed' by a Brahmin on the steps of the lake, apparently.
The road out was full of many monkeys and cows, but i dont think they were the holy kind.
It is hot at night and on still nights sleeping in the rooftent is like being in a tandoor oven, "Get very unpleasant. So in Jaipur having had enough of lying awake drenched in sweat, we headed for a recommended guest house with a rooftop restaurant/wi-fi. Typically the parking was on the street and the rooms were twice our budget so we ate there and slept at another place a short rickshaw ride away.
It was a burning hot 43 during the day so we did a brief tour of the city in a rickshaw, saw the lake palace that apparently has four floors below the waterline, and passed a local elephant parking-lot.
We also bought some emroidery from a fixed price 'warehouse', not so cheap as bargaining on the streets but a lot less hassle.
Next stop Agra and the Taj Mahal!
On the way to Jodhpur we spent the night at a very pleasant spot in the dunes, courtesy of a waypoint from previous overlanders 'nessies adventures'.
A small ragged goatherd spotted us and turned up later, so we offered him a cold drink and mimed/chatted with him for a while. As dusk fell, a black goat kid could just be seen wandering in the dunes bleating folornly, looking decidedly lost. Incredibly Amelia was able to communicate with the animal by bleating, and actually guided it to the car where she had some water waiting. It was kind of like Harry Potter communicating with snakes, except with goats. The poor thing must have been quite unnerved when it discovered that Amelia wasn't the floppy-eared, pointy-horned compatriot it was expecting as it hid under the table for the rest of the evening. I was left scratching my chin and wondering about the Krause/Gore family heritage . . .
The next day Amelia's friend was gone and we got back on the road to Jodhpur. Here there is an impressive fort and many indigo coloured houses after which it is famously named the 'Blue City'. More importantly it was where riding jodhpurs were invented.
We camped in the carpark of a beautiful Ratan Villas' heritage hotel thanks to the very agreeable family owners.Mehrangarh fort is the best we have seen yet, with lots of art and weapons on display and many of the palace rooms still beautifuly preserved.
The fact foreigners have to pay literally ten times the entry fee of Indians to get in is now wearing a little thin.
Eventually we managed to find a working internet connection, submitted our Iranian Visa applications, and had a few expensive beers and a meal at a rooftop restaurant.
The road out was full of many monkeys and cows, but i dont think they were the holy kind.
It was a burning hot 43 during the day so we did a brief tour of the city in a rickshaw, saw the lake palace that apparently has four floors below the waterline, and passed a local elephant parking-lot.
We also bought some emroidery from a fixed price 'warehouse', not so cheap as bargaining on the streets but a lot less hassle.
Next stop Agra and the Taj Mahal!
Hi guys,
ReplyDeleteGlad to see our GPS points are coming in handy for you. We are in Brasil beach bumming our way north. Hope the rest of your trip goes well. Best wishes, Nessie x
www.nessiesadventures.com